A new pet for the Cullens
by BlackMoonQueen
Summary: Emmet and Jasper arrive home from a hunt with a surprise for Bella and the rest of the family.


**Disclaimer:** The Twilight Sage belongs to Stephanie Meyers. This is purely for non-profit fun. 

**A/N: **I in no way condone keeping wild animals as household pets in real life; this is just a fun one-shot that popped into my head a few months ago. I could see Emmet doing something like this. The romantic pairing is Bella/Jasper because I simply like the together but I put this story under Bella/Emmet because the interaction is mostly between them.

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I was bored, tired, and cranky as hell. Jasper had gone hunting with Emmet this morning and they _still_ hadn't returned. It was now midnight and I was waiting for my sexy empath to come and put me to bed and help me sleep. Pathetic? Definitely. Did I care? Not one bit. Rose had of course made several cutting remarks about "Baby being up past bedtime" and I'd flipped her off and carried on watching TV with my bowl of popcorn.

Esme had made me hot cocoa to try helping me get to sleep but the fact was that without Jasper I just couldn't rest easy. According to Carlisle I shouldn't have been able to feel the mating pull so strongly what with me being human and such, but I did. It's physically painful when he's away from me.

FINALLY though the tug began to ease and my irritation eased too when I realised Jasper must be getting close for the pain to start fading. I could now hear boisterous laughter between Him and Emmet as they approached the front door and when it slammed open, much to Esme's annoyance, I was overcome with giddiness that my mate was finally home. It was then that I noticed a furry bundle in Emmet's arms.

"Emmet McCarthy Cullen you sick _freak!_ I was joking when I asked you to bring me something back!" I screeched, waving my arms about and retreating, not wanting to see whatever dead animal he's brought back as a joke. The boys start to laugh harder though and Jasper sends me some much needed calming waves that also help stave off my building nausea.

"I'm wounded Belly-boo. I thought you were understanding of our diet." Emmet says, feigning hurt and throwing an arm over his eyes dramatically.

"I am but there is no need to bring back dead animals to the human!" I reply hotly.

"It's not what you think darlin'. The cub is alive; we killed its mother before realising she had young. The cub isn't old enough to survive on it's own. That big softy there didn't want us to kill it. He brought it back as a…pet." Jasper says hesitantly. It's obvious what he thinks to the 'pet'.

"What is it?" I ask with trepidation and on closer inspection do actually see the baby animal move slightly in Emmets arms.

"Mountain lion cub." The boyish vampire says proudly. "We can call him Simba."

"Emmet, you know I love you, but you stink to high heavens with that _thing_." Rosalie says with a forced calm. She seems to share Jasper's view of the cub. I instantly loved it simply because she doesn't.

"Can we keep him mom? Pretty please? I promise to Bella and I will look after him." Emmet begs turning to Esme. I giggle as he pouts and pulls his puppy-dog eyes on Esme. She doesn't stand a chance and of course caves in.

"As long as he doesn't wreck the house or the furniture." She said sternly, though none of us miss the smile in her eyes. Emmet turns back to Rosalie who's rolling her eyes.

"Fine, but _It_ stays out of our room and you wash before you come near me after handling It." she says heatedly before turning and stalking upstairs.

"Are you ok with this?" I ask Jasper quietly. He smiles indulgently and presses a soft kiss to my lips.

"Anything that makes you happy darlin'." He whispers. I giggle unrestrainedly and dance over to Emmet and the cub, my tiredness forgotten in the excitement.

"Do you think he'll be able to be tamed though? I know he won't be able to hurt any of you but being mauled by an overzealous lion isn't on my to-do list in the next few months." I say, gently stroking the warm and amazingly still-asleep bundle.

"I think he's young enough to be tamed. And you'll be one of us soon enough so you won't have to worry about it for long. When he's old enough he'll probably have to go to a sanctuary or something anyway, but we can keep him for a while." He says happily, passing the cub into my arms. He's surprisingly hefty and I have to take a seat to make sure I have a hold of him properly. His ears twitch under my touch and I cuddle the warm body closer to me.

"He's going to need a bath tomorrow. If he smells bad to me I can only guess what he must smell like to you guys." I grin. Jasper sighs audibly and unnecessarily before coming to wrap his arms around me.

"He stinks almost as much as the wolves do. But I guess at least we won't be tempted to use him as a quick snack." He teases gently. Esme takes him by surprise by cuffing him round the head.

"We don't joke about things like that mister." She admonished sternly. Emmet's booming laughter was contagious as he knelt next to me, stroking the cub as well.

"I don't know what you find so funny Emmet, you're the one who's going to have to tell Carlisle about the addition to our family when he returns from work, and Alice and Edward when they return from Paris." Jasper pointed out, effectively silencing the bear of a vampire. I giggled to myself quietly. "And what are you laughing at lil' miss?" Jasper asked in his sexy southern drawl.

"My life has gotten weirder and weirder since meeting you. I wouldn't change it for the world though." I say affectionately, kissing him on the lips and shifting Simba back over to Emmet. "Look after my baby boy Em. Right now the human needs sleep." I say around a huge yawn. Taking his cue, Jasper effortlessly picks me up bridal style and takes me up to our bedroom for a long overdue sleep. I can't say I ever imagined having a pet mountain lion, but the mysterious thick leather gloves Alice gifted me before she and Edward went away makes sense now. I wonder if she'll have told Edward what to expect before they return in a fortnight.


End file.
